


Secrets Not Their Own

by ars_blindperson



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, aroace fred, aroace george, aroace luna, friendships are made, secrets are kept, secrets are shared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 21:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13175664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ars_blindperson/pseuds/ars_blindperson
Summary: Fred and George Weasley have always been each other's secret keepers and confidants. But one trip to the library and a bit of soul searching after the Yule Ball might yield a fresh perspective and a new friend.





	Secrets Not Their Own

**Author's Note:**

> My gift for [@a-cat-and-a-world](http://a-cat-and-a-world.tumblr.com) for the [aroacehogwarts](aroacehogwarts.tumblr.com) White Dragon Gift Exchange.

Fred and George were inseparable from birth. They were partners in mischief, sure, but they were also the only person the other could talk to sometimes. Oh, sure, it was fun to confuse people with the “No, silly, I’m George”’s and the “Just Kidding! I really am Fred”’s. But it meant that they didn’t really have anyone to talk to who knew them for who they were. So sometimes their parents or brothers or sister would be talking to one of them about something the other one needed to know and they’d have to break the news that “No, I really am Fred. No, I’m not joking this time. Yes I know we joke about this all the time, but this time I’m serious.” More than a few surprises got ruined this way and eventually the twins learned that some secrets could be shared with each other but not with other people. Eventually they learned how to make it look like there wasn’t a secret to hide. 

It started out with little things at first. Things like, this is what I want to get your brother for Christmas or for his birthday. Things like “I really really wanna do this prank but you can’t tell your brother, okay?” Even things like the fact that Fred and George were two different people and not just a gestalt entity built for pranks and mischief and fun.

But as they got older the secrets got bigger. Secrets like how Bill didn’t think he wanted to stay in england after he graduated. Things like the fact that Charlie wanted to go study dragons in Romania because he understood dragons more than people. That Percy wanted so badly to please their parents, but woke up with panic attacks most nights because the path he had to walk was so narrow.

And then there were the secrets that were theirs, and only theirs.

The secret that they hated being seen as either one entity with two bodies or exact clones of each other. The secret that they really kind of hated keeping secrets for other people. The secret that as they grew older they didn’t seem to have the same interest in dating or kissing as other people their age.

This last one didn’t bother them very much until their sixth year when the Yule Ball made the rest of their classmates go absolutely mad. Girls were running around trying to get that certain boy’s attention. Boys were running around trying to make sure they had a date with someone so they wouldn’t be going alone. Eventually, fred and George decided to ask Angelina and Alicia to go together as friends. They worked it out privately before Fred and George asked the girls publically. 

It all worked out incredibly well. Angelina and Alicia understood that Fred and George only wanted to go as friends, and Fred and george understood that Angelina and Alicia were trying out dating but didn’t want anyone to know quite yet.

After the Yule ball things went back to normal for a bit. Fred and George went back to pranks; both playing them and creating new ones. Angelina and Alicia decided to go back to being friends for now but didn’t rule out a relationship just yet. And things were good for a while. But the ease with which their classmates fell in and out of love still weighed on their minds.

“Hey, George?”

“Yeah, Fred?”

“You ever wonder if, maybe, we’re a little bit, different than everyone else?”

“Don’t have to wonder, Fred. I already know we’re much more handsome and charming than other wixen.”

Fred laughed before becoming serious again. “No, I mean, you saw how pretty much everyone else who went to the Yule Ball was about trying to get dates right?”

George was silent for a moment before saying, “Yeah. But not everyone right?”

“No,” Fred replied thoughtfully, “But everyone who didn’t go mad over finding a date either already had one, didn’t want one, or didn’t want to go.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Hell, even some of the third years went a bit crazy looking for dates.”

“Yeah.”

The twins sat in silence for a few minutes before Fred murmured, “Do you think we should talk to someone about this?”

George thought for a moment before he replied. “No, I don’t think we should talk to anybody about this. Not yet anyway.”

“Are you suggesting we go to the library first?” his twin asked with a wry twist to his lips.

“Yeah. Yeah I am. Who Knows? Maybe they’ll have something.”

“Let’s go then.”

Contrary to popular belief, the twins spent quite a bit of time in the library. Certainly not as much as Hermione or even the average Ravenclaw, but enough time to make a truce of sorts with Mme. Pence. If they didn’t pull any pranks in the library, Mme. Pence would help them find what they were looking for as long as it wasn’t in the Restricted Section; this was a deal she usually only made with Ravenclaws. So when they got to the library all the twins had to do was give Mme. Pence a general idea of what they were looking for and she was able to point them to a section of books containing books about different kinds of love among other things.

They read until curfew and then checked out the books they hadn’t gotten through. They read through those books within the next few days, but none of them had the answers the twins were looking for.

“Everything seems to circle back around to romance and romantic love.” George said as he put down the last book.

“I know.” Fred said as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Even the books that claim to be about platonic relationships value them less than romantic ones.”

“Yeah.”

Five days after the twins visited the library they came back to return the books they had checked out and to look for any they may have missed. But there wasn’t anything there they hadn’t already read. But as they left they ran into a small, blonde girl in ravenclaw robes who seemed to be going toward the same section they were leaving. 

“Hey!” The twins chorused.

“Oh hello,” the girl sid dreamily. “You’re Ginny’s brothers aren’t you?”

“Why yes--”

“We most certainly are.”

“But who are you?”  
“Oh, sorry, I’m Luna Lovegood.”

“Pleased to meet you!”

“Can we be of service--”

“On this fine day?”

The girl watched them with a serene smile on her face as they talked.

“Actually, yes, I think you can help me.”

“Oh?”

“You were the ones who checked out these books last, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” the twins chorused, intrigued.

“Well,” the girl, Luna, fidgeted, “I was just wondering. Did you find anything useful in them? I mean, you’re probably here for the same reason I am. Because, there was a huge infestation of nargles around the Yule Ball. Nearly everyone got infested. I was safe because of my necklace, but you two didn’t seem affected and the only thing that keeps the nargles away is a necklace like mine. So I thought maybe it wasn’t the necklace keeping them away. So I came here because the nargles always make people act ridiculous and romantic and I’ve never felt that way and I was just wanting to find answers. And i guess now I was just wondering… since you’re here... Have you ever felt that way? I’m sorry if that’s rude, but you’ve never had a nargle infestation as long as I’ve seen you so I was just wondering if my what I think about them is true or not.” Luna had grown less and less dreamy and increasingly more anxious as she went on and now stood in tense anticipation.

The twins took a moment to think.

“Well, Ms. Lovegood,” George began.

“We can’t say we’ve ever heard of nargles,” Fred continued.

“But we can say we’ve never felt the kind of love or infatuation or obsession with romance as other people.”

“And to answer your first question; no, there weren’t any useful answers in those books.”

“Oh,” Luna said sounding slightly disappointed. “So, it’s not my necklace keeping the nargles away after all?” She brightened then. “But I’m not alone in feeling this way?”

“No.” Fred smiled.

“You’re not alone.”

“And neither, it seems--”

“Are we.”

Some secrets the twins still had to keep to themselves. The fact that they were planning on starting a joke shop after school instead of going into the ministry. The fact that they didn’t really care about their N.E.W.T. scores or feel that they would be useful in real life. The fact that, despite this, they were actually good at most practical magic. 

But they were starting to realize that some secrets they thought were theirs alone could be shared.

They may not have found answers this go around but they may have made a new friend and found common ground somewhere they had never expected to find it.


End file.
